December Weekend in Madrid - Madrid - TravBuddy

First off, despite being published in early 2007, the Lonely Planet sucked in terms of details; almost everything was different in terms of opening times, prices, etc. So don't place too much reliance on guide books, you might want to check around first.

I'm going to stick to what I did which was basically some of the main touristy stuff, I definitely got the vibe that this city would be far cooler if you had a couple of Madristas handy to show you around, certainly from the nightlife perspective but how and ever...

We stayed up in the Hesperia Emperatriz in Salamanca, which was really nice, close to the metro and pretty reasonable... About €120 per night per person sharing, the taxi from the airport was about 20 yoyos. Now, the reason this hotel was chosen was because it looked good and was only about 2 stops metro wise from the Santiago Bernabeu (more on that later). Salamanca is apparently the richest quarter of Madrid and it certainly gave that impression, chancing our collective arms on the Saturday night we came across a street where Cartier was the first shop, followed by Dolce & Gabbana, progressively getting more expensive.

So I can't really recommend Salamanca as a budget place for people to stay but I can heartily recommend the hotel if you're looking for swish, clean and reasonable!

Sunday started with taking in a couple of sights, such as Plaza Mayor and trying to attempt the walking tour of Old Madrid as set out in the guide. I really wish they'd give a detachable map as part of these books as they are always a nightmare unless you have a photographic memory. Suffice to say, you're better off just identifying one or two things you'd like to see and going for a wander. There's plenty around here to keep you interested, the architecture is pretty interesting and the weather was nice and fresh. Madrid seems to be on the whole, pretty much a working city however, it's shy of the main top drawer attraction.

The Prado is ok, as galleries go but again the guide book gave us a bum steer claiming it was free on Sundays, it wasn't! The metro is truly excellent, the ten trip ticket costing 64cs per segment, can't really argue with that and the locals are friendly enough. Distinct from other European capitals, English is pretty much non-existent here and though it's not really a problem, it's kinda funny... I mean even in Milan, there is more English, a few bilingual menus wouldn't go amiss for example!

Anyway Sunday evening, headed to Santiago Bernabeu for Real Madrid vs. lowly Osasuna, got great tickets courtesy of madrid-tickets.net, if a little on the pricey side, they delivered the goods and were absolutely front of house. It's a great stadium, very easy to get into, you can get a beer inside the stadium and they will let you take it pitch side although it was a little bit chilly for that! If you go to see Madrid in December bring thermal underwear! If it rains, you may also be in trouble in this stadium!

Anyway, it was an easy enough stroll along Paseo Castellano to regain the Hotel following the game (2-0 to Madrid with goals from Van Nistelrooy & Sneijder).

Monday took it quite handy, with a quick visit to the Parque Del Buon Retiro which kinda reminded me of a cross between the Jardin de Luxembourg in Paris and Stephen's Green in Dublin, pretty enough in any case.

Then back to Madrid Barajas, for the long queue and check-in with Ryanair, and the one hour delayed, second leg of the €60 return flights to Dublin!

Madrid, I wouldn't go back on a whim but I certainly wouldn't be adverse to a business trip or any other social occasion bringing me back!